In March 2003, a 31-year-old woman was found stabbed to death in an apartment in Högsbo, Gothenburg. Just over a month later, her neighbor was found murdered and buried nearby.
The woman's husband, a Chinese businessman, is suspected of having ordered the murders, but despite repeated attempts, he has not been able to be called to the Court of Appeal for trial.
Now, it is reported that he has been detained in China since last year, which SVT Väst first reported on.
We are working to confirm these reports. But information that has come to me from various sources is that he is or has been detained, says prosecutor Ulrika Bentelius Egelrud to TT.
Murder in Thailand?
According to a letter submitted by the plaintiff's assistant Mårten Eklöf to the Court of Appeal, Chinese relatives of the murdered neighbor have provided information that the businessman has been arrested.
He is also suspected of having murdered his then-wife in Thailand in 2013 and, according to the relatives' information, is detained due to "murder in Sweden and Thailand".
I have received information from relatives in China, which has revived this. But it is a complicated situation, so right now I cannot say much more, says Mårten Eklöf.
The man's defender Peter Gillberg has no own information about the alleged arrest.
Not at present. I have taken part in the information from the plaintiff's assistant. But it is a matter that the court will have to investigate further, as it appears to be unconfirmed information, he says.
Trial was retried
The 31-year-old woman and her husband were in the process of divorce at the time of the murders in 2003.
The husband was convicted much later, in 2016, to life imprisonment for instigating the murder of his wife, while being acquitted of the same crime when it came to the neighbor.
However, the trial had to be retried later the same year because a lay judge was deemed biased, and the man was then fully acquitted.
Since then, several attempts to hold a trial in the next instance, the Court of Appeal for Western Sweden, have failed.
The hope is now to finally be able to hold a new trial about the murders in Högsbo, which the businessman is still suspected of having ordered.
I hope we can get a trial in the Court of Appeal. That is our goal, says prosecutor Ulrika Bentelius Egelrud.
March 19, 2003: A 31-year-old woman is found murdered in a neighbor's apartment in the Högsbo district of Gothenburg. The same day, her husband is taken in for questioning.
April 25, 2003: The husband, who had been detained for a while, is released and leaves Sweden.
April 30, 2003: The neighbor, who was initially suspected of the murder, is found murdered and buried.
June 7, 2005: The husband is arrested in absentia and becomes internationally wanted.
December 2, 2014: The man is arrested in connection with a trip to London and is taken to Gothenburg.
May 4, 2016: The husband is sentenced to life imprisonment for instigating the murder of his wife, but is acquitted of instigating the murder of the neighbor. Later, it is decided that the case in Gothenburg District Court must be retried, as a lay judge tweeted about the case during the ongoing trial.
September 9, 2016: The man is fully acquitted in the new verdict from Gothenburg District Court. Prosecutor Ulrika Bentelius Egelrud has appealed, but the trial in the Court of Appeal for Western Sweden has not yet been able to be held despite several attempts.
